Top 10 Wood Finishing Tips

Do you want to know how to get a wonderful finish to your wood on your next project? Take a look at these top wood finishing tips for silky smooth, attractive wood. You can create the ultimate finishing touch for excellent wood with these ideas. What’s your favorite way to create an outstanding wood finish?

1) Check Your Quality

Take a flashlight, turn out the lights, and shine it across the wood to see if you can spot any imperfections. Mark the imperfections with tape and then put in some extra work to sand them out before you start staining the project.

2) Test Your Wood Stains

Make sure you check the stain yourself before applying to the whole wood. Stain colors vary considerably and you cannot trust the samples that are on display when you buy the stain. Save some scraps from your wood project and sand them as you would the full piece of furniture or art, and then test out the stain. Or you can test the stain on an area where you cannot see the results when you are using the wood. You also need to test clear stains. You may not think this is necessary, but the results vary a lot with clear stains, too, depending on your wood and the finish you use.

3) Don’t Try and Fix Your Mistake

Don’t try and brush it again if you make a mistake or you miss a spot when applying polyurethane. The finish may still look wet but it will be drying and sticky. Brushing over the mistake will cause an obvious mess. Although you can pick out stray bristles with tweezers or pop air bubbles using a pin.

4) Hand Sanding for Curves

An electric sander will not reach all the areas in a wooden item. You need to use hand sanding to get the right finish. Use a progression of sandpaper in steps so that you get rid of deep scratches first and can then work on finer scratches. Hand sanding may seem like an effort but it is a really great way to get the perfect wood finish.

5) Always Sand with the Grain

Scratches across the grain, even when they are light scratches, are easy to see. Scratches that run with the grain are much harder to spot. Sand with the grain when you are hand sanding or using an automated sander.

6) Take Care Sanding Between Coats

Don’t rub right through a coat and remove stain left below. Sand very lightly after you have added a first coat. Sand a bit harder after the second coat but always make sure to leave the stain intact.

7) Apply a Wood Conditioner

It is a good idea, in many cases, to put on a wood conditioner before you stain the wood. Some woods are bad at absorbing stain and the effect can be blotches and discoloration.

8) Use Excellent Brushes

A high quality brush is less likely to shed bristles in your coat of stain and it will hold more finish. It will also lay the finish more smoothly, resulting in a better finish. Make sure you invest in high quality bushes, whether you are using natural bristles or synthetic brushes for your work.

9) Use a Paint Pad

Use paint pads when you have a large surface to finish with polyurethane. You will get a more even finish and will be able to coat large areas before it starts to dry.

10) Spray on Polyurethane as a Final Coat

This is one of the best wood finishing tips. Add your final coat of polyurethane with a brush and let it dry overnight. Then sand it to get rid of any imperfections. Next, remove the dust with a cloth or vacuum cleaner. And then use a spray to put on the final coat. You don’t get any brush marks and are left with a professional finish.